Rock wagon



P 1966 D. c. KLINGAMAN ETAL 3,271,078

ROCK WAGON Filed May 18, 1965 2 Shoots-Sheet 1 Fig.1"

INVENTORS DEA/v 6 KL/A/aAMA/v BY ALFRED 6. LAG-ROW ATTORNEYS p 1966 D. c. KLINGAMAN ETAL 3,271,078

ROCK WAGON Filed May 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet t r" INVENTORS DEA/v C /1/L//VGAMAN BY ALFRED [T l/lfiow ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,271,078 ROCK WAGON Dean C. Klingaman, Decatur, and Alfred C. La Grow, Peoria, lll., assignors to Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, Ill., a corporation of California Filed May 18, 1965, Ser. No. 456,709 4 Claims. (Cl. 298-25) This invention relates to wagons of the large so-called rock or earthmoving type and particularly to improvements which make such a wagon more versatile than previously known wagons.

In moving great quantities of rock or earth it is sometimes desirable to connect wagons in tandem or in trains to enable a single tractor to pull more than one wagon. In ordinary rear dump wagons, this is impractical since uncoupling would be necessary before a forward wagon could discharge its load. A disadvantage of side dumping Wagons as well as rear dumping wagons is that very large and long jacks must be employed for hydraulic actuation or lifting of the body to its dumping position.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved wagon capable of discharging its contents to both sides simultaneously or alternately to discharge by way of its central bottom portion and being capable of discharging in either manner with the use of relatively small hydraulic jacks or other motor means.

Further objects and advantages of the invention are made apparent from the following specification wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a wagon embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged rear view of the body of the wagon being a section taken on the line II-II of FIG. 1 showing the wagon in carrying position with a broken line illustration showing the position of the parts at the commencement of a side dumping operation;

FIG. 3 is a view like FIG. 2 illustrating the completion of the side dumping operation; and

FIG. 4 is a similar view showing the position of the parts in a center dump operation.

The wagon frame comprises two longitudinally extending spaced beam with forward supporting wheels 12 and rear wheels 14. The dump body of the wagon comprises two similar halves 15 and 16, each having an outer side wall, a bottom portion and two end walls so that when they are brought together to the full line position illustrated in FIG. 2 they provide a receptacle or body for transporting rock or earth. Each half is pivotally connected to a plurality of generally horizontally extending links 18 by coaxial pivot pins 19 extending through reinforcing ribs on the outer side walls. The links 18 are in turn pivoted as at 20 (see FIG. 2) to brackets 21 secured to the outer sides of the frame members 10. This double pivot point support for the sides has advantages presently to be discussed. Each half of the body has a jack at its front end and at its rear end, the rear jacks being shown at 23 and 24 in FIG. 2, and one of the front jacks being shown at 25 in FIG. 1. The jacks are substantially identical and are pivoted to brackets 26 as shown in FIG. 2 supported on opposite sides of a plate 27 which serves as a brace fora horizontal plate 28 (see FIG. 1) behind the body. The rods of the jacks are pivotally connected to brackets 30 secured to the two halves of the body and extending through notches 32 in the edges of the plate 28. At the forward end of the body a transverse plate 34 which may be identical in construction with the plate 28 has a central bracket assembly 35 which supports the forward jacks in the same manner as the rear jacks are supported. The

3,271,078 Patented Sept. 6, 1966 hydraulic source and controls are not herein illustrated as they are conventional. It will suffice to say that all the jacks are double acting and that upon extension from the positions as they are illustrated in FIG. 2 they will impart outward swinging movement to the two halves 15 and 16 of the body.

This swinging movement takes place about the inner pivot points 19 passing through the broken line positions shown in FIG. 2 and continuing to the full line position of the two halves of the body illustrated in FIG. 3. From this point on further swinging movement will take place about the pivot points 20 which enables the tilting body portions to attain a dumping position illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 3 where they are considerably beyond the beams 10 and where the dump material will not damage the tires of the wagon. An advantage of dumping first from the inner pivot points 19, as shown, is that the two halves 10 attain the positions illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 2 where the load is equally divided between the two and no part of the load has been allowed to spill centrally between the wheels. This is particularly undesirable where a dump body of this character is adapted to a truck which has a drive shaft and other components disposed beneath the body. Two pivot points on opposite sides of the frame also enable the points to be low. Were the pivot points high, dumping of incompressible material such as rock would be impossible because the two halves of the body would necessarily swing toward each other to exert a compressive force on the load. The low pivot points 19 enable upward swinging motion with a minimum of inward movement of the lower portions of the body halves. However with a low pivot (for example see pivot 19 of FIG. 3) the body is incapable of dumping because the halves 15 and 16 rest on the frame members 10 in the partially dumped position shown in full lines. It is only the outer pivot 20 and link 18 which permit the continued dumping motion.

Where central dumping is desired, the modified construction of FIG. 4 is employed wherein the same jacks 23 and 24 are connected to the bottom edges of the body halves 15 and 16 by pins 33 provided for that purpose and upon being extended permit the body halves to swing downwardly to the central dumping position illustrated in broken lines. Since the jacks are somewhat short for this use, they may be extended as by short pieces of chain as shown at 34.

We claim:

1. A dump wagon having a frame supported on wheels and including two spaced longitudinally extending beams, a body between said beams comprising two halves each having a side wall and a bottom wall, pivot means supporting said halves each with respect to one of said beams and with edges of the bottom walls meeting between the beams to form a receptacle, and power means engaging each half adjacent its side wall to swing it to a posi tion for dumping its contents outwardly over the beam to which it is pivoted.

2. The combination of claim 1 with alternate securing means for the power means disposed adjacent the bottom wall of each half to permit winging of the halves to a position for dumping the contents inwardly between the beams.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which the pivot means for each half comprises links pivoted coaxially to the half and extending outwardly over the associated beam, brackets on the outer side of the beam, and coaxial pivots between the links and the brackets, whereby each half may pivot outwardly over its beam first about the inner ends of the links and then about their outer ends.

4. A dump wagon having a frame supported on wheels and including two spaced longitudinally extending beams, a body between said beams comprising two halves each having a side wall and a bottom wall, pivot means supporting said halves each with respect to one of said beams and with edge of the bottom walls meeting between the beams to form a receptacle, and power means acting between the body and each of said halves to swing the halves to positions for dumping their contents outwardly over the beam.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,135,871 11/1938 Grounds 298-25 2,760,816 8/1956 Kling a- 298-29 3,019,949 2/1962 Allard.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner. R. J. JOHNSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DUMP WAGON HAVING A FRAME SUPPORTED ON WHEELS AND INCLUDING TWO SPACED LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BEAMS, A BODY BETWEN SAID BEAMS COMPRISING TWO HALVES EACH HAVING A SIDE WALL AND A BOTTOM WALL, PIVOT MEANS SUPPORTING SAID HALVES EACH WITH RESPECT TO ONE OF SAID BEAMS AND WITH EDGES OF THE BOTTOM WALLS MEETING BETWEEN THE BEAMS TO FORM A RECEPTACLE, AND POWER MEANS ENGAGING EACH HALF ADJACENT ITS SIDE WALL TO SWING IT OT A POSITION FOR DUMPING ITS CONTENT OUTWARDLY OVER THE BEAM TO WHICH IT IS PROVIDED. 